Doughtie and Porterfield had their office in the building, recalled Don Anderson of Pasadena, who worked on the top floor in the late 1960s as a district manager for Southwestern Bell.

The office tower, which housed various attorneys, insurance companies and other businesses, was a focal point for the city then, said Carpenter, 75, who was also on the bank's board of directors.

"It was a gathering place," he said. "The best I can remember, the bank was the biggest in Pasadena back in those days. Down in the basement they had a coffee shop. People would go over and drink coffee. It was very convenient."

Built to sway

The building was built to sway in the wind, said Carpenter, who discovered that feature in the summer of 1966 during a wind and rain storm.

"I was on the phone and noticed that the pencil on my desk was rolling back and forth, back and forth," he said. "I thought that was strange. I couldn't feel the sway. I looked up and saw that the coat on my coat rack was swinging, too."

Carpenter said he told his secretary he thought they should evacuate Southwestern Bell's employees from the top three floors, but she assured him she'd already talked to the building manager.

"She said, 'It's built that way,' " Carpenter said.

David Pomeroy, Pasadena's resident historian, said that the building was constructed to accommodate the merged First Pasadena State Bank and First National Bank, previously on Shaw Street.

The Southmore location was chosen for its proximity to the newly built City Hall, he said.

"The bank came out there to confirm this was the new downtown," Pomeroy said.